Legendary
I had mixed feelings about I Am Legend — the first hour or so worked quite well, considering, but the final act just fell apart. Seems that didn’t bother many moviegoers this weekend, however. Legend just shattered December box office records. This proves what we already knew about Will Smith: He’s a near-perfect leading man. The big takeaway, however, is for the guy behind the camera: Francis Lawrence, welcome to the A-list.
I’m curious- was there any indication in the movie of what the title meant?
In Richard Matheson’s book, the title referred to a startling realization the protagonist makes just before his death: that in a world of vampires, HE is now the monster and THEY are now the “normal” ones. He’s become a terrifying legend among the vampires, and long after he’s dead, the vampires will be telling their kids scary stories about the horrible creature who skulked about in the daytime, putting stakes through people’s hearts!
I gather that, in the Will Smith movie, the vampires have been turned into near-mindless, homicidal zombies. IF that’s the case, then the title “I Am Legend” is utterly irrelvant to this movie. They might as well just have called it “The Omega Man.”
— astorian · Dec 17, 05:09 PM · #
No, they actually worked in a way to make it (sort of) relevant.
SPOILERS!
The Smith character develops a cure, based on his own blood, for the plague. He dies, but sends the cure along to a survivor’s outpost with Boring Cross-Wearing Girl, and at the end of the movie, suggests something to the effect of, “This is his legend…”
— Peter Suderman · Dec 17, 05:54 PM · #
I almost left the movie three times this past Friday night but I knew my husband would be irritated if I did. It was horrifying. About 2/3 of the way through I told him, “If this doesn’t get more cheerful in about 5 minutes, I’m leaving.” After it was all over, it seemed to me that this was probably a book first and would probably have been less horrifying to read than to see. It was vile! I’ll never watch the Oscars again if Will Smith gets an Oscar for this use of his talents. My husband said critics are saying he’ll get a nomination for this but I don’t think he’ll win for something like this. I agree—the final act fizzled. The costume and make-up people should win something. So should the German Shepherd.
— Joules · Dec 17, 10:13 PM · #
“he Smith character develops a cure, based on his own blood, for the plague. He dies, but sends the cure along to a survivor’s outpost with Boring Cross-Wearing Girl, and at the end of the movie, suggests something to the effect of, “This is his legend…””
I actually think, Peter, that he takes the blood from the cured zombie in his lab at the end. I could be wrong, though.
— Freddie · Dec 20, 02:17 AM · #
I think you’re right about the blood, Freddie.
At least Boring Cross-Wearing Girl wasn’t trying to EAT anyone. I thought she was going to hit Will Smith in the head with the skillet but she was too Christian for that.
— Joules · Dec 21, 05:03 AM · #